And to top all the euphoria is the ecstasy of love. Yes, Alia’s reportedly in love with long-time ‘crush’ Ranbir Kapoor. Shooting for Brahmastra with the talented Ranbir only means taking their chemistry to another level. Ask her if the enormity of it all is sinking in and she replies, “I don’t pay so much attention to the enormity of my life. For me, it’s like clockwork. You wake up to do this. To sit back and pause and be like, ‘Oh wow’ would be self-indulgent. To marvel at your own journey would be boring. I’d rather observe someone else’s and learn from it.” she says. Right now, what absorbs her is the challenge of living several lives in one lifetime – some edgy characters, some easy. “I balance it out,” she points out. If I wanna be a good chef and I serve one kind of sandwich, who’s going to visit my restaurant? There must be variety. I tend to relate everything to food!” she laughs at the comparison.

She relies on her gut while giving her nod to a project. “My mood at that time, the script and the director… help me decide a film,” she reveals. She confides it’s not easy to say no to a film. “But I’ve started feeling less guilty about it, less nervous about what if that person doesn’t like me,” she says adding that she does tend to seek approval. Since her debut film Student Of The Year, most of Alia’s films have been with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. Would she be able to say no to her mentor? She replied, “I’ll never say no to Karan. Who would say no to him? But if a film doesn’t click with me, I’d rather not do it. What’s the point? And Karan is extremely understanding.” She adds, “There have been a couple of films that he suggested but for whatever reasons, I couldn’t do them. He understood.” She goes on to reveal, “Karan asked me not to do Kapoor & Sons. I said, ‘No! I want to do it’. He said, ‘You don’t have enough part in it’. Karan will offer you a film and then he’ll also ask you not to do it in a protective way. Later, he said, ‘I’m sorry, I was wrong, you were right in doing it’.”

She enjoys working with her director friends, especially Ayan Mukerji, Abhishek Varman and Shakun Batra. “All three of them are different. I’m having a blast with Ayan. He’s passionate as a friend, passionate as a director. He takes good care of the actors,” she smiles. “He creates the atmosphere for you. He keeps you in the zone. He’s like my dose of Vitamin C. He just comes and there’s a whoosh, a burst of energy.

If I’m lagging even by three per cent, he pushes me,” she grins. She finds women directors like Gauri Shinde, Meghna Gulzar and now Zoya Akhtar brilliant as well. “Directors are directors. There’s no comparison. It’s the same procedure,” she says. She denies that women directors tend to be ‘hyper’. “In fact, they are way more in control, more aware. And people are scared of them!” she laughs.

An actor is supposed to let down his guard and be ‘shameless’. Alia, despite the womb-trembling roles she’s played, says she’s shy. “I’m not as shameless yet. I’ve a lot of learning and unlearning to do. At times, I get a little nervous, which can take over being shameless,” she explains. She reveals yet another trait about herself, “I’ve this ability to cut people out of my vision. I could be having a conversation with you and suddenly block you out because my mind is somewhere else. I do that even when the camera rolls. So, whatever happens behind the camera, even if they’re fighting, I’ll not get distracted,” says the Piscean, who calls herself ‘a flyer, a dreamer’.

Alia’s candour reminds you of her sister Pooja Bhatt, the toast of the ’90s. But Pooja gave it all up to turn filmmaker. “Pooja didn’t want to be an actor. She was pulled into it,” she claims, “She’s always been a visionary. She was always meant to direct. Like my father (Mahesh Bhatt).You must want to act, like you want water or sleep. It has to come naturally,” she says.

The late Sridevi was a great admirer of Alia’s work. “Her passing away was devastating for me, like it was for everyone. I was in a restaurant when I heard the news. After that I just couldn’t eat. I broke down and couldn’t stop crying.” Remembering the actress, who presented her the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Udta Punjab, she adds, “What an impact she had on people! She was always so warm and lovely.” She says she rather remember Sridevi in a positive way. “The kind of turnout on the streets during her last rites... she went like a goddess! That was heart-warming,” she remarks.

The life of an actor has changed in the last decade with publicity being the fulcrum of a career.

But Alia says “I live a fairly simple life. I’ve just one manager. I’ve one person, who does my PR during the release of a film. It’s not like we’re sitting every day and planning things. I’d go mad if I had to do that.” She likes being at home. “When you step out, the mask comes on. That’s why I don’t like to go out much. I ask my friends to come home. I can sit in my pyjamas and be myself.”

While wrapping up she says casually, “Someday I’d like to talk about the mind-set of a 20-something girl, who’s doing more than a 20 something does!”